Armor
by Ramuria
Summary: I’m sure there are a lot of people who think it’s tacky and weird. She thought so. They asked me a lot, “Why the armor?” and I’d just smile because it felt good to frustrate them. You know, there is a reason though.
1. The Idiot

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-gi-oh and with my current luck never will. That's probably a good thing

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_I'm sure there are a lot of people who think it's tacky and weird. She thought so. They asked me a lot, "Why the armor?" and I'd just smile because it felt good to frustrate them._

_You know, there is a reason though._

_Actually, you'd be surprised how many reasons I have for doing the things I do. Living the way I live. It's not like anyone's cared to ask before though._

_Who am I kidding? Why would anyone care enough about me to question anything other then my choice of clothing?_

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Mai sat quietly in her chair as she gazed out the window at the clear cerulean sky. A few fluffy white clouds dotted the endless blue like seagulls floating on the surface of the sea. She sighed.

"Why am I even here?" the duelist asked the room.

The room didn't feel the need to answer and thus the silence was not broken. Eventually her eyes were drawn down to the bed she as sitting next to. To the person in that bed.

"You're an idiot, you know that? Doing something so stupid…"

She brushed a blond strand of hair away from her face as she stared at him. He looked so innocent when the sinister smirk had been erased; almost like a child. The thought made her snort and roll her eyes. He was anything but childlike.

The silence was starting to ring in her ears, a constant thrumming that was giving her such a bad headache that she as willing to talk to herself in order to drive it away.

"If you would just wake up then I would only have to listen to your annoying voice instead of this maddening buzzing."

Quiet. Mai felt like screaming but the friggin' doctor had told her to keep it down because the imbecile was sleeping. He was sleeping too much in her opinion; let him wake up!

"This is all _your_ fault you know…" she murmured.

Why was it that she just wanted to see his blue eyes nowadays? To hear that funny accent and always wonder how his hair stayed so…poofy. She wasn't really sure how she should describe that. Well, Yugi's hair was pretty wild but this guy's hair was just as bad in her opinion.

Why was she even on this train of thought?

_Be realistic. He's been like this for weeks. I should give up on blue eyes and that dumb smirk. Heck, I don't even _like_ him!_

_But then…Why am I sitting here?_

Before Mai could do anymore deep reflecting a nurse knocked on the door and without waiting entered. She wore one of those irritating cheerful smiles. What was there to be happy about anyway?

"I see you're still here Ms. Valentine," the other woman said as she opened a cabinet and began looking through it.

"Yeah, still sitting here doing nothing."

"There are some magazines down in the lobby; I could go grab some for you."

"…That would be…nice…uh…?" Mai started.

"Lily," the nurse replied with another sickeningly sweet smile.

Lily was drawing some medicine into a syringe. The yellow liquid reminded Mai of urine…bad thought.

"Are the doctors saying the same thing?" the duelist asked flippantly as if she didn't care. Lily gave her a sideways glance.

"I'm sorry if this is blunt but…he hit his head _really_ hard. They're thinking he's not going to wake up."

Mai scoffed.

"He'll wake up, what with his hard head and all."

The nurse's smile had turned dry.

"Yes, I hope so."

She turned and walked over to the other side of the bed where she examined his arm for a few seconds and then prepared to give him a shot-

Mai looked away. She hated shots…more like needles period. It wasn't that she was a wimp…they were just kind of creepy in her opinion. So she settled for looking at the I.V. bag on a pole not too far from her. That bothered her too; knowing that he was so weak that he needed to have the constant medicine.

"I'll go grab those magazines for you now. Any preferences?" the nurse asked. She disposed of the syringe and brushed off her shirt.

"Ah…no…thank you."

"No problem."

Lily quickly left, leaving Mai "alone" in the sterile room. The blond woman gently reached over and touched his hand. She ignored the I.V. stuck in his arm as she stared at his fingers. When she looked closely she could see the tiny, hair-thin scars that cross crossed the backs of his hands like spider webs. She shivered.

"It sort of makes me wonder what you were doing before Doma…" she mumbled.

He'd never told her anything about himself. Knowing him he probably didn't tell _anyone_ that kind of thing. Not like she wanted to _really_ know about the twisted reasons he had.

Lily suddenly reentered, holding a stack of newspapers. She set them on the small table next to Mai with another cheery smile.

"So…is he your boyfriend?" the nurse asked while tidying up the room.

"What? Oh, _no_. Definitely not my boyfriend. I'm just here because…I guess I owe him. To tell the truth, I hate him."

"There is a thin line between love and hate you know."

"Yeah, sure. If you knew him you wouldn't think that."

Lily smiled.

"I'm sure you're right Ms. Valentine."

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**Brief Note:**

Varon/Valon is the person talking in italics at the very beginning of the story if you didn't already figure that out.

I _am_ going to write more on this even if people are mean and don't give me any reviews. The idea for thispopped randomly into my head when one of my friends said that Varon/Valon's armor was "tacky". I started to think about why he wears it (besides that fact that it would probably help him if he ever crashed on that bike of his lol) and came up with this little...story thing...

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Please review, it really makes me happyful and motivates me :)

Thanks for reading!

**Ramram~**


	2. Bad Coffee

**Chapter Two**

_No one ever cared…well_ _I guess I can't say __**no**__ one but…she's dead now, isn't she? So why is it that I feel so strongly about Mai? She doesn't love me. Heck, I don't think she even __**likes**__ me._

_Karma I guess. I've done so many terrible things in my life…so many horrible things._

_I've seen worse things though. Experienced worse. But…_

_I was taught that there's always someone else out there who has it a lot harder. So maybe I should be thankful._

_I did __**meet**__ Mai after all._

She wasn't sure if she liked coffee or not. It was a good way to wake up and stay awake but it just had that taste that she didn't like. Reminded her of that imbecile who lay unconscious upstairs.

Not to mention the hospital coffee was _really_ bad.

Mai sipped at the icky black liquid as she leaned against the front desk that faced the main entrance. Her eyes widened and she started, spilling some of the coffee onto her new purple skirt.

A tall blond man had entered the hospital. He looked out of place with his long, dark coat and large hiking boots. He recognized her instantly.

"Mai Valentine?" he asked, striding towards her.

"Raphael," Mai said quietly. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged with an expression that could have been embarrassment.

"I heard about what happened and thought I should stop by…How is he?"

"He's been in a coma for weeks now."

She thought she saw worry cross his face. Must have been her imagination…

"I see…can I?" he asked without asking.

"I don't think anyone would mind. It's not like its past visiting hours or anything."

They both walked silently over to the elevator where they rode up in total silence. Mai looked down with disapproval at what would probably be a bad stain. Coffee really was crappy.

The elevator dinged as if saying "get off me you frigin' heavy humans" and they exited only to dodge out of the way as a few nurses pushing a stretcher rushed by.

"Which floor is this again?" Raphael asked gruffly as he looked around.

"Urgent care I guess. I never asked."

She led him to the familiar door that she pushed open quietly, ushering him inside.

Raphael stared down at the man on the bed, his fists clenching. Mai closed the door. Without warning the blond man sat down and then just stared.

"…I didn't think you two were very close," Mai said as she pulled up another chair. Raphael scoffed.

"It depends on how you look at it."

"Well then, how do _you_ look at it?"

The blond man paused, staring at his former partner's face. His frown seemed to lessen a little as he thought.

"He was definitely different then Alister…he…He was like the little brother I lost; upbeat and crazy. It made me feel like I had to protect him all the time. I even took some of the missions he was supposed to get," here he laughed quietly, "He was pissed with me after that…He had moments though…"

Mai stared at him curiously as he trailed off, waiting for him to continue.

"Most people who had their souls long enough to actually know him think he just blows everything off and doesn't give a crap about what others think. Like I said though, he had his moments…times when I didn't recognize him; when he'd just break down on us. He never told anyone why he joined Doma."

The blond woman shifted uncomfortably.

"I never saw him show much anything other than cockiness and that weird obsession with me."

"Maybe you reminded him of someone?"

The room fell silent as Mai pondered the statement.

"I really wouldn't know. I…I don't know anything about him at all; not like I care."

"Then why are you here?"

"I owe him this at least."

Raphael focused on the I.V. bag and seemed to become uncomfortable.

"So what happened exactly?"

Again the room was silent for a long while. Finally, Mai opened her mouth hesitantly as she stared at the ground.

"It was stupid really…I was walking home after the championship last month and one of the duelists I had defeated "ran" into me. He was upset about losing to a girl and smelled like beer and…he was a lot stronger physically then I would have judged him to be. Valon…Valon had been in the audience that day…"

She'd finally brought herself to say his name and dryly she did a mental victory dance. This punk had nothing on her.

"He saw what was happening and came to help me out…but…at one point that drunkard got a hold of him and started banging Valon's head against the wall."

Mai shivered. The images played unbidden before her eyes; Valon's smaller form being literally crushed as that duelist had tried to kill him; the blood that dripped down over the bricks and pooled on the grimy asphalt. She swallowed.

"I thought he was dead…"

His eyes that last time as they went dull but somehow managed to show all that pain. He was supposed to be stronger than this, right? He shouldn't have been beaten so easily. How…

"I-I had called for the police earlier on and by the time they got there Valon was already…he was in really bad shape…"

Raphael stared at her long and hard.

"So you feel like you owe him because he almost died trying to help you?"

Mai gave a sharp nod which caused her bangs to fall haphazardly in her face. All her fault…

Raphael sighed.

"It's not your fault Mai," he said with a small smile. She looked at him as if he'd read her mind.

"But-"

"He wanted to help you. It was his choice and I doubt he'd want you to feel sorry for him. Besides, he's gonna be fine! I know he's been through worse then this."

Mai laughed. "Oh really?"

"Yeah…Well, anyway, I've gotta get back to work. Take care of him for me," the tall man said gruffly as he stood.

The blonde woman watched as he left, feeling suddenly lonely. It was like she was the only one in the room. Even though she _knew_ she wasn't.

"You know…it'd be really nice if you would wake up…" she whispered.

Silently she reached out, grabbing hold of his hand. "Just wake up…"


End file.
